*************
Alright, so the last chapter didn't turn out so well. I was in a bad mood. I am sorry.
But I'm not going to stop. I am sorry for the brutality, but I shall continue to write, and change the story that I had planned in my head to fit what it is now.
I am sorry for those of you who liked Eregon
-Ebbie Bunnie
*******************
Just as Salem walked into the room, a pretty girl of around twenty, a brunette with long, thick lashes ran to him and fell at his feet, sobbing. On closer inspection, her face told the story of someone who had been crying for some time. Her face was covered in tears, with matted hair sticking to it every which way. It looked as if she had tried to apply makeup too, but her hands must have been shaking badly, as the lipstick ended halfway up her left cheek.
'Please!' She howled into her masters boots. 'Please! You cannot let me go! I love you! I think I would die...'
Salem placed a firm hand over the snivelling girls' mouth. Brianna was another slave that he had bought roughly a year ago. He had found her defiant, snarky attitude amusing for a month or so.
He had resolved to break her after she found a penknife and tried to stab one of her guards. It took him only a couple of months, one of his fastest.
But the countries laws dictate a 'one pleasure slave per house' policy, to stop the integration of personal harems. Now that he was taking on Eva, Brianna had to go.
He backhanded her, sending her again reeling to the ground after she had just climbed her way up his robes.
'Foolish girl! Did you not realise that I would find another, more amusing article? You, slave, are nothing to me. A toy, a plaything. And you know that! You shall bring a good price at today's market. Now, go, girl! With your guard. Maybe I will see you again at a party, on another's leash.'
Brianna balked.
'Now! But, no! MASTER!'
Salem watched as the slave was dragged, kicking and screaming, from the room. He actually quite liked her, he let himself admit. He could only hope that she went to a Master as kind as himself. Sighing, he left the room to mourn the loss of a girl who he had come to really enjoy.
*******************
Brianna arrived at the market with her Masters' servants still manhandling her, screaming ferociously. She simply could now believe that her master, the man that she had loved and served under for as long as she could care to remember, was casting her aside. Just like that. She did not know of Eva's existence. Indeed, as a slave, and a foreigner before that, she really had no idea of the policies or laws of the country she was in. She knew that she could never be happy with anyone else.
She also knew that Salem thought that he had broken her. In fact, he had been close. But a broken girl does not truly love. Lost in her reverie, it was not until she was directly on the auction block that she realised suddenly where she was. Ad who was sitting directly in front of her, smirking...
*************
Eregon had gone to the market to see if Salem had stopped off there for supplies. Imagine his delight when he saw Brianna, Salem's slave, sitting dejectedly at the side of the block. Eregon knew that, however much Salem denied it, the two loved each other. Eregon was ecstatic, and could not believe that he had not thought of it sooner.
Of course he was selling Brianna.
He could only keep one slave... but Eregon was sure that Salem would want Brianna back. He had seen the two together. They were more than just master and slave.
Eregon went to the seat right at the front, directly in front of the auction block. He wanted to make sure that Brianna could see him. He knew that se despised him. She knew not why, but her Master did, so she did too.
'Ah!' Cried the auctioneer, gathering the attention of the crowd that was slowly growing around the small platform. 'Here! Gentlemen, feast your eyes! Here her have a natural beauty, who, up until only recently, belonged to our great Baron himself! Imagine that, this little scrap here was fucked by our great Protector, not that long ago! No, folks there is nothing wrong with her, the Baron simply grew bored of the little wench'. At this, Brianna started sobbing out loud, great hiccupping gasps.
'As always, as this is a trained slave who once served at quite a high place, we open to our Baron's first...?' The auctioneer trailed off, glancing meaningfully at Eregon.
'Sure!' Cried Eregon happily. Everyone in the area immediately felt sorry for the girl. It was well known of the grudge that passed between the two Barons, even if no-one knew why there was such a rift in place. They knew that whatever Eregon had planned for the girl, it was not pleasant.
'How much?'
'Well...' the auctioneer trailed off craftily. He, unlike the rest of the citizens present, had heard of Eva's existence through a fellow announcer. He had a pretty good idea what the neighbouring Baron had planned. 'Five million. If no-one else is interested...?'
No one was stupid enough here to bid against a Baron of an opposing county.
Upon hearing this, Brianna screamed. She just
knew
that, if Eregon got his hands on her, he would take his frustration on her. She also knew that she was
not
worth five million. Her Master had paid a couple of thousand, she remembered. She could not be worth much more than that. Just as she was about to voice her concerns, Eregon said,
'Five million it is! Thank you, sir'.
With that, he signalled one of his men to pay the auctioneer his due, and headed into his carriage with Brianna on a leash, trailing behind him. No matter how much she hated him, she knew that she could not make a fuss about a master in a public setting. Eregon lead her into his small meeting area, and, to her immense surprise, took off her collar.
'What are you doing Ere... Mas...Master?'
Eregon smiled.
'I, dear Brianna,' Brianna gasped at his use of her name rather than position, 'am not your master. And, you, are not my slave.'
Brianna tried to process this.
'But... you bought me. I belong to you now...' she broke off, suddenly crying.
'Mm, technically. But, in your heart. Brianna, who do you belong to?'
Brianna sighed.
'
Master.
S...Salem'.
'Right. And right now, your master is with a girl who I wish...
need
to call my slave,' Eregon started to snarl, but quickly regained his composure. 'So, we need to work. Together. Ok?'
Brianna nodded slowly.
'Great. Here is what I need you to do...'
************************
Two weeks later, Salem walked into his training room. He had just finished up a meeting with some of the mayors that run different part of his county under him, and was feeling irritable. His produce was not improving. In fact, unless he could figure out a way to funnel more money and people into the farming sector, it was likely that they would run out of food the coming winter.
Salem sighed. He did not wish to think of such things.
Unlocking the door to the next room, Salem closed the heavy wooden oak behind him. Lying prostate on the table, was Eva, with multiple tubes and wires running out of her. His breath caught. Now that the month of dirt and grime had been properly washed away, she was quite beautiful.
The doctor that he had looking after her walked around the bed to meet the great man. Doctor Hall was well-known in the county, but had never actually met Salem before. He gulped. Salem stood over six feet tall, with ginormous hands and the most imposing moustache that Jordan Hall had ever seen.
'Well?' Salem grumbled, 'Can you get her out?'
'Ah', Jordan quaked, 'No. You see, she isn't really in a coma. You know that place where you go, in your head, when the pain gets too much? You just shut yourself in, so that you cannot feel the pain. Slaves who are abused, pushed too far or are being broken go there all the time. Well... somehow, Eva has...'
Salem cut him off. 'Slave! You shall refer to her as 'this slave' or simply 'the slave'. Don't want you getting to personal'.
Jordan shook even more. 'Ah, yes. Well, this slave has, somehow, voluntarily gone to that 'happy place', if you will. I have never seen it anywhere before, and is quite remarkable...'
'Right', Salem yawned, boredom etched over his face. 'Great. That's... great. So, how about unhooking her from this stuff? You can give her meals at meal time, and whatnot. But, I think it's time for me to give my methods a go...'
Jordan again gulped, looking at the girl who, though quite tall, suddenly seemed very small and vulnerable spread out on his hard examining bed.